


Erebor Cafe

by LittleSwallow (Hobbity)



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, M/M, Modern AU, Modern Middle Earth, Unrelated Fíli and Kíli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 10:34:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24469558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hobbity/pseuds/LittleSwallow
Summary: Kíli, Erebor Cafe Central's most popular barista, is totally unprepared for the most gorgeous dwarf in Middle Earth to walk into the coffeeshop one Monday Morning demanding a fluffy.Edit: I am not new here, I just had to change my name.
Relationships: Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 56





	Erebor Cafe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Linane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linane/gifts).



> Linane wone a prize fic by me and wanted a coffeeshop AU and someone having a terrible crush (okay, she said the customer has a terrible crush, but I am dumb and wrote it from the POV of the barista with a terrible crush).  
> I hope this fits the bill.

Kíli loved being a barista. Not enough to give up his studies, but enough to enter Erebor Cafe Central with a smile every time. 

He loved coffee. He loved cake. He loved the smell of freshly brewed coffee. He loved people.

He also loved the quiet shifts. Opening the coffee shop in the morning when only a few people would stumble in, barely awake enough to make a coherent order. 

In the beginning he had annoyed people by trying to make small talk in the morning.

Now he just gave them a cheery smile and on a weekly basis there would be comments on social media about how Kíli’s smile had made somebody’s morning. And those comments always made Kíli’s day.

He had just given his best smile to his cousin Gimli at 7:05 on a late summer Monday morning when the boy was really in no mood to work on a project for high school, even if that project was about his passion, ancient dwarf axes.

The bell chimed again, and Kíli looked up from cleaning the crumbs off the counter. And his smile froze in amazement.

That guy. Had never been there before. Kíli would swear to that. 100% pure gorgeous. 

That hair. Just that hair. Blond hair glimmering like gold in the morning light that came through the large glass front. 

He barely noticed when the guy spoke up.

“Hi.” That soft, melodious Moria accent. That switched off the remaining cells of Kíli’s brain that had still been working. Some fired up again, when the man’s slightly louder “Excuse me?” filtered through.

“I’m sorry. Good morning!” Kíli tried his best to hold his huge, potentially creepy, smile in but with no success. “What can I get for you?”

The question prompted the guy to crinkle his huge nose in the most adorable way. “Um. Do you have Fluffies?”

Okay, maybe his brain was still not working. “Sorry, I didn't catch that.”

“Fluffies? Do you have them?”

“Fluffies?”

They looked at each other and Kíli shrugged to emphasize that he really had no idea what they were talking about. The guy scratched his beard. 

“Yeah, fluffies. Maybe you got a different name for them here?” He looked up and scanned the blackboard with the menu behind Kíli.

“What’s in them?” Kíli asked because the board was pretty big and offered very few descriptions.

“Um. It’s just steamed milk really. It’s a kid drink in Moria. You know. No coffee or anything. Just milk foam. And sugar.”

“Oh, a babyccino!” Kíli just about managed to hold back his giggle at the guy’s slightly mortified face. “Coming right up. Anything else I can get you?”

“A croissant, please.”

“Cool.” Once he had charged the guy, he asked, cup in hand “And what’s your name?”

There was really no reason to put a name on a cup when Kíli was the only person in the shop and the guy the only customer but a) the question was automatic and b) Kíli really needed to know.

“Fíli.”

“Fíli? For real?”

“Yes?” 

Kíli hurried to actually start preparing the order, because Fíli started to sound a bit disgruntled, probably thinking he was being made fun off.

“That is cool! My name is Kíli - I assume you are also named after a son of Dis?”

“Yes.” Dimples appeared in the guy’s cheeks. Dimples so deep Kíli almost burned himself when he foamed the milk. That guy’s charm was illegal. Not noticing that anything was wrong, Fíli continued: “You’re the first Kíli I met that is around my age. No offense, but back in Moria, it is kind of an old man’s name. As is Fíli.”

“Yeah, I know. But my grandma named my ma Dis so Ma decided to name me Kíli.”

“My dad is called Frerin - of course Frerin died very young according to legend, so he decided to call me Fíli. Same family, longer life.”

“He did not believe the version where Fíli and Kíli died in the Battle of the Five Armies?”

“No, but even then Fíli must have been around twice the age of Frerin. Depending on what dates you go by.”

Fíli had started sipping his fluffy babyccino but made no move to walk over to a table or out, so Kíli felt free to continue the conversation.

“True, he must have been in his 90s, while Frerin was in his 40s I think when he fell in the battle of Azanulbizar. Those were fucked up times for the Longbeards.”

“Yeah.” Fíli took a big bite out of his croissant. “I think that is one of the few things historians can agree upon. Fucked up times for all of Middle Earth really.”

“Do you believe king Thranduil when he says that he does not remember if Fíli and Kíli survived?”

“Yeah. I mean, we cannot expect an elf to remember everything that happened 1500 years ago, right? Thranduil has lived nearly 10’000 years, why would he remember details of who ruled Erebor when.”

“He remembers Gimli well enough.”

They both laughed. It was well known that after all these centuries, Thranduil still blamed Gimli the dwarf for luring his son away from the Greenwood and close enough to the sea to cross it.

Fíli rolled up the remainder of his croissant neatly in a paper napkin.

“Anyway, I need to get going, thanks for the fluffy!”

“See you around.”

Just as Fíli left, Nori - Kíli’s colleague - came in and teased Kíli for the remainder of his shift about the moon calf eyes he made at that handsome customer.

The next few days Kíli’s worked were day shifts, and he did not see Fíli. Nori caught him more than once practicing decorating babyccinos during quiet times. It did not take him long to get Kíli to admit that the handsome stranger had ordered one. Kids were delighted with the beautiful smiley faces Kíli made though, so Bombur, their boss, was happy.

A week later, Kíli was working the Monday morning shift again.

And there he was. Fíli. This time Fíli had to wait until Kíli had served two other customers, but then he stood in front of Kíli, blue eyes twinkling and dimples flashing.

“You braided your moustache!” Kíli burst out in lieu of a greeting. “Like prince Fíli!”

On the only contemporary depiction of the dwarf prince that survived, prince Fíli had worn his moustache in braids.

“Yeah.” Fíli flicked his left moustache braid. “Our conversation reminded me of my namesake. Though I got to say, they’re not very practical for drinking.”

“A fluffy again?”

Fíli laughed and shook his head. “No … do you have any teas?”

Kíli tried not to show his disappointment. After all, he had practiced hard to impress Fíli with is Fluffy skills. “Sure. With or without caffeine?”

“Doesn’t matter.” 

“Right. So we got Shire breakfast, Earl Boromir, Celestial Rhun …”

“Shire breakfast will do. With milk.”

“Do you want me to foam it?”

Fíli raised an eyebrow. “I never had a tea with foamed milk, but sure, knock yourself out.”

So Kíli did. A customer came in just as he gave Fíli his drink, but Fíli stayed at the counter, so once that guy was gone, Kíli asked brightly.

“You’re new in town, right?”

“However did you figure that out,” Fíli winked.

“Well, not knowing the proper name for things for starters.”

Fíli laughed. “Yeah, I’m new. I moved here for my internship. I’d only been to Erebor once before.”

“That is a crying shame for somebody called Fíli.”

“I know, right! I’ve always been curious about Erebor that’s why I looked for an internship here.”

“And? What do you think?”

Fíli chewed on his lip thoughtfully, and accidentally bit on the bead of his moustache braid. After he coughed it up, he said with as much dignity as he could probably muster: “I was surprised by how diverse this place is. Moria is almost only populated by dwarves - like the Ered Luin, I’m guessing that’s where you’re from?”

“Bingo!” Kíli smiled brightly at him. “My family is about the only family that’s mixed with humans, so …” he trailed off. Shit. He had just admitted to a Moria dwarf that he was part human. Not that Fíli could not have guessed it from his stubble, his skinny limbs and height.

“I always wondered why there never was more mixing with hobbits,” was the only comment Fíli offered. Which led to a discussion of the role of Bilbo Baggins, of course.

“Do you think he married Thorin?”

“If Thorin survived,” Kíli reminded him. “Though as there seems to be evidence that a tall dwarf lived in the Shire after the Battle, and under a hill in Hobbiton nonetheless, I believe he did.”

“Might have been another dwarf from the company,” Fíli suggested. “I don’t think there is any confirmed story of what happened to Bofur after the battle for example.”

“There are several families tracing their line to Bofur and an unnamed dwarrowdam, I doubt he shacked up with a hobbit.”

Before Fíli could answer, Nori popped up next to Kíli. 

“I see you’re discussing Kíli’s favourite topic.” He shook his head. “You should at least look up when the doorbell chimes, mate.”

“Oh yes, sorry. I would have noticed a customer at the till.”

“Sure you would’ve.”

Fíli took his take away cup with the foamy tea and smiled at them. “I’ll leave you to it then. See you soon!”

Nori teased Kíli for the rest of the shift. Again. But Kíli’s brain was so full of Fíli, he barely noticed.

The next two times Fíli came in it was busier - term at Erebor Tech had started again. Erebor Tech was just around the corner and the coffee in their cafeteria notoriously bad. Unfortunately that meant only a lot smiles between Fíli and him but no more actual conversations. And just ordinary tea, no time for being silly.

He heard from Nori that Fíli occasionally came at other times, but Kíli was never around then.

And then it happened. Kíli had swapped the evening shift on Thursday with Nori. And Fíli walked in 10 minutes before closing time. It was raining outside, and Fíli had only his hoodie to protect him, which was soaked now.

The only other people in the coffeeshop were two groups of students sitting at the big tables at the back, and a couple on a sweetly awkward first date near the window who were totally oblivious to their surroundings. Tauriel was busy in their storage room.

Fíli beamed when he saw Kíli and pulled the hood down. “Kíli! What a lovely surprise.”

“Hey Fíli.” Kíli tried to tame his manic grin. Fíli looked to adorable with his damp hair flattened to his impressive skull and the moustache braids dripping.

Fíli tried to squeeze the water out of them, while talking as if this was nothing unusual. “I’ve never seen you here this late.”

“Yeah, I swapped my shift. What can I get you?”

Fíli grinned, letting his braids drop. “A big hot fluffy? As childish as you can make it?”

“I can make it very childish,” Kíli promised. “You want marshmallows? Sprinkles? A chocolate smiley face?”

“All of the above, please.”

Of course, Kíli did not charge Fíli extra though he should have. Instead he took the image of a drenched Fíli casually leaning at the counter while sipping hot foamy milk that stuck to his moustache as a tip.

“So how have you been,” he added in what he hoped was a very casual voice. 

“Good. Getting used to Erebor and all that.”

“Is it difficult?”

“Sometimes.” Fíli shrugged. “Maybe I’m not made for adventures. I love how diverse this place is, but I also miss the halls of Moria. You know, my family still lives inside the mountain.”

“Ah. I see.”

Over the centuries, Dale and Erebor had grown together and the mountainside had become scattered with settlements as well.

Inside the mountain there were only the government offices, the barracks (human soldiers did not like that), plenty of museums and a few places where the richer remaining noble families lived. And a few fancy dwarf hotels.

Moria was much bigger and part of a mountain range which had been hollowed out, so the story there was very different.

“Took me a while to get used to it, when I moved here from Ered Luin,” Kíli confessed. “We mostly live inside the mountains as well. Not quite as grand as in Moria though.”

“I’ve been there a couple of times. My mother came from there. From Noglond.”

Fíli fell silent.

“It’s a lovely place. I’m from Thorin’s gate myself,” Kíli said carefully, mindful that Fíli was, after all, a customer.

“Yeah, I loved going there.” Fíli tugged at his moustache braids. “My mother used to make fluffies for me when I was a kid - she was so addicted to cappuccinos and I wanted to join her.”

“You miss her.”

Fíli nodded, taking the finished babyccino automatically. “Yes. It’s been quite a few years but still …”

“I understand. My father passed away when I was little child.”

They were silent together for a moment until some idiot came in to get some late night snacks. Fíli smiled softly at Kíli as he walked away and Kíli was nearly unable to fulfill the next order.

That Monday morning, Kíli was off in exchange for the Thursday evening. The next time Kíli saw Fíli was Tuesday, not in the coffeeshop but in the small bookshop next to it that was run by a hobbit whose line traced back to Peregrin Took, as he very proudly announced by his gigantic family tree behind the till.

As elsewhere, most independent bookshops in Erebor and Dale were struggling. Tookish Books survived through its eclectic mixture of textbooks for students, history books, fantasy literature and roleplaying books as well as roleplaying paraphernalia and old maps of Middle Earth. Most famously the one Bilbo Baggins was supposed to have drawn where the Misty Mountains range bore very little resemblance to its actual shape and size.

This information was exactly what Kíli greeted Fíli with when he saw him contemplating a poster of that map on the poster catalogue that divided the textbook section from the fantasy section.

Fíli turned around, smiling brightly. “Kíli! Nice to see you!”

“Yeah. I should have known you’re into this shop.”

“I just discovered it now! After all those weeks coming to your coffeeshop.”

“That is a shame. However, that map is really inaccurate.” As if a guy from the Misty Mountains would not know.

Fíli laughed. “Of course it is, it’s ancient. I love ancient maps.”

“Of course you do.” Kíli smiled. “My uncle has several ancient map of the Ered Luin in our home. And a couple of Erebor.”

“None of Moria? I should be offended.” 

“Nobody in our family ever went back to Moria after they fled from the Balrog, as far as we know. And he is mainly into family history.”

“Makes sense.” Fíli smiled at him and then turned back to rummaging in the basket to find the right poster.

Kíli stood next to him and wondered what to do with his hands. And whether he should leave. Before he could make his mind up, Fíli had found the poster and straightened. 

“Anyway,” Fíli continued, “I think that poster will look great on my wall. Also, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing in here? Hanging out after work?”

“Buying text books, I’m afraid.” Kíli laughed. When he saw Fíli hesitating to ask the question he clearly wanted to ask, he added “I’m in my third year of sport sciences.”

“Oh cool.” Fíli smiled again. “Are you in the building up on the hill?”

“Yes! How did you know that?” 

Fíli laughed. “I saw the sports facilities on one of my walks. My internship is with the football museum up there, it’s not too far.”

“Oooh, that’s cool! You should ….” Kíli trailed off. They were not friends. Fíli was a customer.

“Yes?”

But Fíli was his best customer and charming and beautiful and just the right kind of nerd. “Well. I just meant if you ever want to discuss ancient maps a bit more, we could meet in our college cafeteria. It got quite decent coffee. … Which I just realised you don’t drink. Apparently.”

“I don’t. But I’d love to meet you there. Would it be okay to give you my number?”

“Yes, sure!” 

Kíli scrambled to get his mobile phone out of his pocket and nearly let it drop.

Fíli somehow knew his own number by heart (who did that anymore) and dictated it to Kíli. Once he had done his smile turned almost shy.

“Just text me when you get free time? I get 1 hour of break every day, they do not care when I take it. I guess your schedule is more difficult between work and class and stuff.”

“Yeah, but I should be free the day after tomorrow.”

Actually, he would be free the next day as well, but on Wednesdays he usually hung out with his friends Merry and Pippin and they would never, ever let him have a date in peace.

It took Kíli all his meagre willpower to only text Fíli the next day. He was a normal dwarf. Not an overexcited adolescent with even less facial hair than he had now.

He felt more nervous than on his first date ever though when he waited for Fíli outside the university building on Thursday. It was a bit chilly, but sunny and the trees had started to turn into all shades of orange.

Fíli arrived on a practically ancient, sturdy bicycle. He greeted Kíli with a small smile.

“Hey, sorry to keep you waiting, I needed to wrap something up.”

“No worries.” Kíli walked with him to the nearest bike stand. “I like your bike.”

“It’s not mine, it’s the museum’s. We can all use it to get around up here.”

“That’s handy.”

“Yup, especially because I'm the only one really making use of it.” He secured the bike with a heavy chain and rubbed his hands. “I’m ready for some hot tea.”

“Great! Come on!” 

The university building was 30 years old and built at a time when style was at an all time low in architecture. The hallway was dark brown and sparely lit with harsh neon. The floor was a reddish linoleum that had probably already looked dirty when it was put in. It always smelled musty despite the cleaner’s best effort.

Which was why Kíli carefully watched Fíli’s face when they entered the cafeteria. It was always fun to see the surprise of newcomers when they walked into the courtyard that had been turned into a cafeteria with a glass ceiling that let in the natural light. Big pots with climbing plants and bushes hid some of the ugly walls, and the metal tables were painted in cheerful colours.

“Not what you expected, ey?”

“No.” Fíli looked around. “This is great.”

What was even greater was that while the cafeteria was, as usual, quite busy, none of Kíli’s friends were here. They usually weren’t on Thursdays - they had no classes Thursday afternoon but Kíli always spent it in the cafeteria revising.

He got himself his usually double espresso and a herbal tea for Fíli, who immediately wrapped both hands around the warm cup.

“Unbelievable how cold it already feels when you’re biking without gloves.”

“Yeah, I know.” Kíli steered them towards his favourite table in the corner, which was miraculously empty.

Or rather not so miraculously, Kíli had piled his books on there earlier. In general, they had few problems with theft here.

There was a short awkward moment once they settled down. This was a new situation. Kíli was not at work. And had nowhere to go.

“Are you still studying or is this an internship after you graduated?” he asked carefully. 

“I graduated last June.” 

“What did you study? History?”

“No.” Fíli laughed. “I would have liked to study that but my family was very much not keen on that so ….” He scratched his head. “I’m making a terribly weak impression here. It’s not that I cannot stand up for myself. But at the end of the day, I did not mind studying something with a clearer career path. I love history, don’t get me wrong, but not enough to be eager to make it my job.”

Kíli nodded. “Me too. Not that sports sciences is much better, but we are doing business classes too.”

“I think sport science is pretty cool! I like sports too.”

“Nice! What …” Kíli was about to ask with what activities Fíli maintained that nice broad body, but coughed instead. “So, any sports you are particularly into?”

Fíli shrugged. “At the moment, I just go to the gym and go on some runs. Back in Moria I am part of a swordfighting group, so we practice a couple of times a week.”

“That is so cool! I do a bit of that myself - and archery. I like archery better, in fairness, but it is a totally different thing. You should come along - we practice next Saturday.”

“I’d love to but my swords are back home.”

“No worries, we can organise some for you. If you really want to come, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be overbearing or anything.”

“You’re not, that’s brilliant.” Fíli bit on his upper lip which was not helping Kíli’s heart rate at all. “I’m happy I met you.”

Kíli felt his mouth open but no words came out. He finally managed to say “Yeah.”

Conversation skills. Very important. Fíli smirked.

“I’m also happy we met outside the coffee shop.”

“Yeah?” Seriously, he had to do better than this. “Yeah? Why?”

“Well. I cannot really come on to you while you are doing your job, that’s an arsehole move.”

Fíli winked and Kíli took a deep breath. 

“Right. Great. Um.” He took another deep breath. “I’m not usually this awkward. Just not used to people being even more forward than me.”

Fíli chuckled. “I’m not sure if I should apologize.”

“No. Definitely not. No.” Kíli smiled brightly. “I’m happy you moved here.”

“Yeah, it was a good decision. Never thought I’d meet somebody as geeky as I am. My Monday mornings are the highlight of my weeks ever since I moved here.”

“Well.” Kíli wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m sure we can find a few better highlights.”

“Are you coming on to me now?”

“Oh yes.” Kíli reached over and boldly tugged at one of Fíli’s side braids. “I wanted to ever since you walked into the coffee shop, being too gorgeous to just come in without a warning.”

“So you just like me for my handsome looks.”

“Just the first impression,” Kíli assured him, intertwining their fingers when Fíli gently distangled Kíli’s hand from his braid. “Then we talked and I realised you’re more than a pretty face. And gorgeous body.”

“Good.” 

They finished their drinks in silence, and Kíli nearly spilled his coffee over himself because Fíli was holding his right hand but he also was not willing to even let go of Fíli long enough to swap his dominant hand for his left hand.

Once they were finished he immediately suggested they go for a walk and practically dragged Fíli out of the building. 

“Where are we going?” Fíli asked, a bit confused when Kíli still didn’t talk but walked towards the sports ground. “I didn’t bring my gym clothes or anything.”

“I got the keys for the backdoor,” Kíli explained, very proud of himself. “When I am not studying or working at the coffeeshop, I help out at the sports facilities. And you know what is inside our facilities grounds, right?”

Fíli’s jaw dropped in realisation. “The ruin of the tower said to be the one Azog pushed Fíli down from!”

“Yes. You’re Fíli, I’m Kíli, this is our first date so - can you think of a more appropriate place?”

“No. This is awesome!”

Kíli let them in through the side door in the meshed-wire fence. They had to walk through the soccer fields - some of the players recognised Kíli and shouted a greeting - and then followed the woodchip trail that ran up to the edge of the hilltop. 

It did not take them long to reach the spot where the trail made a sharp turn, right at the ruin of the tower. It was fenced, of course. Kíli pointed to the gap in the wall of the ruin.

“That’s where Azog is supposed to have appeared.”

“It’s not even that high.”

“No. But they did not die in that battle anyway.” Kíli grabbed Fíli’s hand more tightly. “Come on, let’s enjoy the view.”

They shared their first kiss there, behind the Raven tower, overlooking the city. It just felt natural, when Fíli pulled Kíli closer, and Kíli bent his face down. The moustache braid got a little in the way at first, but neither really noticed. 

The following Monday, Fíli was the first customer in the coffeeshop. Which was not that surprising, considering he had come with Kíli. And he got his fluffy topped with lots of little pink hearts.


End file.
